Willow
by QueenOfDragons2
Summary: After spending 700 years by herself, Willow has forgotten who she really is. Will she find her true identity with WALL-E and EVE? First fanfic. Few OCs. Please review! Ch. 10 up!
1. A new beginning

The first rays of sunlight stretched across the practical desert. There wasn't a piece of trash for miles. A dream come true for a small, white robot sleeping in an old, rotting shack, the

only building in the desert.

At first glance, you would think that the robot was an albino Barn Owl. At second glance, you would still think that. In fact, it was almost impossible to tell that she was a robot at all.

And she was no ordinary robot. Most of her dreams were images of events in the future, ranging from hundreds of years away to a few minutes away.

As the first few rays of sunlight touched her closed eyelids, she quickly made a short schedule of the things she would do that day. The first thing that she would do was fly to a city

that was thirty miles away. She had had some more of her prophetic dreams last night and she wanted to find somewhere where she could paint them on a wall or something like

that. She always had a better time understanding the images if she painted them onto something.

Her flight to the city was, as she expected, uneventful. When she got there, she chose suitable places to paint her images. She had a lot to put down, so it took several days.

She didn't have to worry about getting caught by any human. They had been gone for 700 years. They weren't extinct, they had just evacuated into space on huge star-liners to

escape the trash-ridden planet. She hated seeing how much trash they had left behind: therefore, being somewhere where there wasn't any trash was a dream come true. The

humans had built thousands of robots called WALL-Es, which would compact the trash into cubes and then stack the cubes into huge towers, which would soon be taken apart and

burned by huge incinerators. However, after five years, the time by which the humans thought the trash would be all gone, the humans that remained on Earth, to ensure that

things were going as planned, realized that toxicity levels had risen to a point where organic life was unsustainable on Earth, and the remaining humans evacuated the planet, but

not before the "BnL CEO" sent out a message to the autopilots of the star-liners telling them to keep the ships in space and to not tell the captain and passengers about the

message. The humans left the WALL-Es and incinerators active "in case the plan ends up working at a much later date" as the "BnL CEO" put it. However, as time went on, one by

one the WALL-Es and the incinerators shut down permanently. She thought that all of them had long since shut down…until she had a dream about her being with an active WALL-E

unit, along with one of the "EVE" probes that the star-liners used to check for signs of plant life on Earth once every year.

Finally, she finished the last painting. She then looked at them trying to see if she could understand them any better. She stopped at one that seemed to be of her, the WALL-E unit,

and the EVE probe hugging each other. She was in a shady area, so she didn't notice the thing that made a huge shadow that suddenly loomed over the city. She did, however,

notice the shaking and loud sounds that the thing made when it landed. When everything was quiet again, she looked again at her paintings. Some of them seemed even clearer

than before, so clear that she now knew what some of them were: robots with red devices attached to them, a filthy EVE probe in a few of the paintings, humans that looked like

huge babies, a spider-like robot, and the clearest painting was of the WALL-E unit and the filthy EVE probe apparently talking to her. In the background of the same painting were

various robots looking at paintings that she had made. When the small robot took a closer look at the paintings the robots were looking at, she realized that those paintings were

the ones she had just finished making! She looked at the other paintings, wondering when the images they showed would come true. Some of them showed good events, some of

them showed bad events, and some of them she wasn't sure about. Little did she know just how close some of those events were to happening.


	2. Nothing but sadness

The only thing she felt like doing at this point was staring at one of her paintings. It was a few hours before, for the first time in 700 years, she heard a voice other than her own.

The voice said, "Whoa…dude…did you make all of these?" She knew it was another robot: it was speaking in a code that most robots were programmed to know. Without turning to

see who it was, she said, in English, "Yes, I spent days making all of them." The other robot said, "Can my friends come and see these?"

"Is there going to be a lot of them?"

"They would all fit in here."

"Then you may bring them here."

"Ok, hold on a second."

Towards another direction, she heard him yell, "Hey, guys! Come look at this!"

Further away, she heard another robot yell, "At what?"

"Just get over here!"

A few moments later, she heard a whirring sound getting close. Then, she heard a female robot say, in the robot code, "VN-GO, this had better not be another one of your-." The

whirring sound stopped, and everything was quiet for a few moments. Then, the female robot said, "What-who-?" VN-GO said, "That thing." The small, white robot knew he was

talking about her. She heard two robots come up to her side. She didn't take her eyes off the painting. The female robot said, "Did you make all of these?" The small, white robot

said, "Yes, and it took me days to do so."

"You're very good at painting."

"I've had lots of practice."

"Are you going to keep staring at that painting?"

She turned to look at the robot…and could hardly contain her surprise when she saw it. It was the filthy EVE probe, and next to her was the WALL-E unit. The EVE probe looked at

her and said, "What's your name?" The small, white robot was stuck. She didn't have a name. "My name?"

"Yes."

"I, uh, I don't have a name."

Everyone was quite surprised. "_**You don't have a name?**_"

She noticed that the WALL-E unit was anxious to say something. She quickly used that as a distraction.

"It looks like he's just _dying_ to say something." The EVE probe said, "WALL-E can't speak or understand the Axiom code." The nameless robot turned to him and said, "You can't

speak in the Axiom code?"

"Um, guys?" VN-GO was trying to interrupt.

WALL-E shook his head a bit sadly. The nameless robot said, "What are you talking about? Of course you can." WALL-E looked at her and said, "No I ca-…" He abruptly stopped.

VN-GO tried again. "Guys?"

WALL-E was very surprised. "What the-?" EVE slowly said, "I'm not going to ask how that happened…" EVE turned to the nameless robot. Before she could say anything, WALL-E

quickly said, "How 'bout we name her Willow?" EVE said, "Ok…what do you think of that name?" Willow said, "I like that name. I like it a lot."

VN-GO tried one more time. "Guys!"

At this point, everyone was getting tired and a little crabby. "What?"

"Take a look at this one!"

The painting he was talking about was of EVE and WALL-E apparently talking to Willow, with the other robots looking at other paintings that Willow made. To Willow, the painting

now looked more like a photograph than a painting, a sign that the event it depicted had come to pass. After several moments of silence, EVE said, "Look, we've had a long day. Why

don't we go back to WALL-E's trailer and get some rest?" The other robots agreed and left. Willow started to follow them, but EVE turned and glared at her. Willow stopped. She

knew what it meant. EVE wanted her to find her own place to sleep. EVE then left. Willow felt quite upset. She didn't like being rejected. She stood in that spot for a long time, feeling

something heavy in her chest. It wasn't long before night fell upon the sky. Willow shuffled over to a building that she knew was safe...and found several other robots there, already

asleep. She went over to an empty spot and went to sleep. Her dreams were of her, WALL-E, and EVE being together, doing various things that she desperately wanted to do. All it

did was sadden her, as she felt it was something that could never happen. The dreams wouldn't stop, and it made her so sad, she began to cry in her sleep, although she wasn't

aware of it. The dreams turned to nightmares of either WALL-E or EVE being badly hurt or attacked by some monster that resembled a spider. At this point, she was crying and

screaming in her sleep, but she didn't know it. Finally, she awoke and saw that all the other robots were glaring at her. She realized what had happened. She said, "I'm sorry. I'll go

find another place to sleep." She left the building and flew to the top of the tallest building. The moon was full and bright. Willow tucked her head under her wing and cried herself to

sleep. Never had she felt more alone.


	3. Another life

Willow had nothing but nightmares that night. Finally, after several hours, morning came. She awoke the moment the sun began to rise. She flew off the building to the ground. She

saw several groups of robots heading towards the bay. She quickly merged into one of the groups and went in the same direction. As they went, not one robot even made a small

whisper or looked around.

After a while, Willow noticed that she felt like she was just a robot. A mindless robot, devoid of any sort of free will, unable to do anything except what she was programmed to do,

unable to care about anything except what she was programmed to do. Only a servant of humanity, nothing else. Just one of many, not one thing setting her apart from another. It

was something that she had not felt for a very long time. It only made her feel worse. First she was rejected, now she felt like there was nothing special about her. So, she marched

on, a mindless, emotionless robot, going to fulfill her task for the day…whatever that was.

Soon, they arrived at the bay, and what she saw surprised her. The bay wasn't empty: there was a small settlement and, in the distance, a huge star-liner. The Axiom. The robots

formed into several single-file lines. Each robot was to be assigned a task for the day by large robots that looked somewhat like mobile ATMs. When each robot was given a task,

they would go off in a certain direction. When it was Willow's turn, the robot said, "You will be a carrier. Report to HAN-S." Willow went off in the correct direction without a word.

She got into yet another single-file line. The moment she saw HAN-S, she recognized him. He was one of the robots that looked at her paintings. When it was her turn to be assigned

a task, he looked at her for a moment before saying, "You will take technical equipment from the Axiom to the mechanics. Report to the steward in the landing bay." She went off

right away. She could tell that he desperately wanted to talk to her, but there was too much that had to be done to stop for a conversation.

Willow was amazed at the size of the inside of the Axiom. But she couldn't stop and stare in wonder. She still had a job to do. It didn't take her that long to reach the landing bay.

She went up to the steward, but before she could say anything, he said, "You know what to do." He sounded a little bored. By following some of the other robots, she found some

equipment, grabbed some, took it to the mechanics outside the Axiom, went back inside, grabbed some more equipment, and repeated the process again and again and again.

Before she knew it, it was noon. She and another robot were heading back to the Axiom when Willow said, "This is _so darn boring_."

The other robot said, "Tell me about it. At this point, I'm just _dying_ for something exciting to happen."

Willow smiled for a bit.

Suddenly, a robot yelled out, "Hey! Willow!"

Willow immediately changed direction and went over to the robot. It was one of the robots that had looked at her paintings the day before. It was a small cleaner-bot.

"Willow! Where have you been? WALL-E's been so worried!"

Willow was surprised. "WALL-E wanted me to come and sleep in his trailer for the night?"

"Of course he did!"

"Then why didn't he just say so?"

"We all thought you would follow us."

"Even EVE?"

"Yes. Why?"

"…well…I did start to follow, but the moment I did, EVE turned and glared at me."

"You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"That's odd. She doesn't remember doing anything of the sort. In fact, she spent half the night looking for you."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm quite serious."

"…hmm."

She thought for several minutes before the cleaner-bot said, "Willow…there's something behind you."

The other robot thought he was talking about him.

"Very funny, M-O."

"I'm not talking about you."

Willow got a little nervous.

"Where is it?"

"It's above and behind you."

Willow looked…and what she saw terrified her so much, well, the next thing all the robots in the bay heard was a very loud and very terrified scream.


	4. A strange happening

The only thought that was going through Willow's mind was _run_. And that's was she was doing. She had to get away from the ghost from her past. She flapped her wings faster

than she ever had before. She just had to get away. She hardly cared if she caused something bad to happen; she just wanted to get away. But no matter how fast she went, the

ghost was always a few inches behind her. She went inside the Axiom. She hoped she could escape him there through the sharp turns and lack of open space. But it was no use.

Eventually, she made a turn that took her into the Repair Ward.

Minutes before, BURN-E, a welder-bot, had found the smashed remains of GO-4 on the Lido Deck. He took GO-4 to the Repair Ward, where he was promptly fixed. When BURN-E told

him what happened, GO-4 said, "Thank you for repairing me. We should go join the other robots in their tasks." They had just turned to leave when Willow, still being chased by the

ghost, burst into the Repair Ward. When she realized that it was a dead end, she quickly turned around. The moment she started turning, GO-4 grabbed her in his suspension beam.

But she kept going. In fact, she even ended up taking GO-4 with her. GO-4 screamed. Not only did his suspension beam fail to stop her, but now he was being dragged along as if he

was tied to her. And she was going way too fast for him to be willing to turn off his beam. It wasn't long before they came across EVE's four sister probes. The end result: a straight,

colored line that consisted of Willow, GO-4, and the four sister probes, all of them in suspension beams except for the probe in the back of the line. Just when they thought it couldn't

get much worse, they came across a very large group of stewards.

All the robots in the bay were very bored. They had worked so long and their tasks had little variation. Suddenly, a robot yelled out, "Hey! What's that in the sky?" All the robots

looked up…and were instantly amazed. It was a long, mostly red line that had large bulges every foot or so. It was very high up. It began to twirl and loop, like a roller coaster. It

was very graceful and it seemed like its purpose was to entertain the hard-working robots. It swooped closer to the robots and started doing spectacular tricks. Both robots and

humans watched on, fascinated by it all.

However, the line was the line that consisted of Willow, GO-4, the four sister probes, and the very large group of stewards, all caught in suspension beams except for the steward at

the end. Willow was going so fast, her head stuck out of the bubble created by GO-4's beam. She wasn't even aware of the line of robots behind her. She was just so terrified. And

exhausted. She wasn't going to be able to keep it up for too much longer.

20 minutes later, she began to slow down. Slowly, but noticeably. Ten minutes later, she was at a speed at which the robots were finally willing to shut off their suspension beams.

They were only five feet above the ground, so they weren't afraid of hitting the ground hard. And they were in a straight line. One by one, the line quickly broke down. The

spectators cheered at the fantastic performance. Willow crashed into the ground, panting hard. After lying down for a few moments, she turned to see what the commotion was

about.

GO-4 went up to her and said, "What in the world was that about?"

Willow, not aware of what had happened, said, "What do you mean?"

"Why were you going so fast?"

"I was trying to get away from the ghost."

"The ghost? What ghost?"

"The- never mind. My name's Willow. What's yours?"

"GO-4. By the way, how were you able to resist my suspension beam?"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you aware of what just happened?"

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

GO-4 told her what happened.

"I wasn't aware of that."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I feel like an idiot for not noticing it."

"Hmm. Still, it's a little strange how you were able to resist my suspension beam."

Another robot joined in. "What's even stranger is that Willow now looks like a cow."

Willow turned around. It was PR-T, a beautician-bot. She had a red boot on her head.

Willow was confused by her statement. "What do you mean by that? I don't look like a cow."

PR-T held up her mirror. Willow instantly understood what she meant. Her body had several black splotches on it. There was even one that covered half her face. The eye in the black

splotch on her face now had a visible iris that was red.

Willow was very confused by this. "That's…very strange."

"Indeed it is. Why don't you go take a break for the rest of the day? I think you need it."

"Okay."

Willow decided to explore the Axiom. She was very curious about it. Eventually, she got up to the bridge. Attached to the ceiling was a wheel. After taking a closer look, she realized

that it was a robot! She looked at it to see what was wrong with it. She soon saw that it was off. She turned it on. It moved and its center became a red eye. Willow got in front of it.

After looking at her for a few moments, it said, "Who are you?"

Willow was surprised. It was speaking in English. Monotonous, but English. All the other robots she had met could only speak in the Axiom code.

She politely responded, "My name is Willow. What's yours?"

It said, "I am Autopilot. But I am called Auto."

"All right, Auto. What are you doing here?"

"I am the wheel of the ship. It is impossible for me to leave."

"It won't be impossible for much longer, if you want me to."

"Want you to what?"

"Redesign you so that you are mobile."

"I would like that very much."

Willow turned to leave to gather the necessary parts. Just before she left, Auto said, "Before you go, may I ask you something?"

"Sure. What?"

"Are we on Earth?"

Willow was confused as to why he asked that question. "Of course we are."

"I see. You may leave."

It took Willow only half an hour to gather all the necessary parts. When she was done, she went back to the bridge. Upon entering, she said, "Auto, I have everything I need."

Auto looked at her and said, "Good. You may begin."

"Okay. Just hold still and this won't take long."

It only took ten minutes. Auto was completely still the whole time. When she was done an image appeared in her head. The image of the spider-like robot. Auto _did_ look a lot like a

spider now. More than he had before.

Auto looked with interest at his new limbs. His long, thin legs ended in small, sharp claws that could easily grasp things. Every leg could be used as an arm. Auto looked at Willow

and said, "Thank you Willow. You have done me a great deal of good." With that, Auto left the bridge. Willow thought about Auto for a few moments before she left. She decided to

ask one of the robots about Auto. They might know very important information. Perhaps GO-4 knew a lot. She went up to the steward in the Lido Deck and said, "Do you know where

I might find GO-4? I want to ask him about someone."

The steward said, "I think he's outside."

"Okay. Thanks."

When she got outside, she saw that it was only six hours until sunset.

It didn't take her long to find GO-4. He was giving directions to some of the robots. However, he seemed quite anxious. She went up to him and said, "Is something wrong? You

seem pretty nervous."

GO-4 turned to her and said, "I AM nervous."

Another robot joined in. "About what?"

"About-."

Without warning, they heard, in the distance, WALL-E screech, "EEEVAH!"

GO-4 finished. "That."


	5. The virus

As Willow, GO-4, and the other robot started off in the direction of the cry, Willow started to get an odd feeling. It seemed like something was causing anything she heard to become

partially muted. The worried murmurs of nearby robots became unperceivable. And then came a sound that only she could hear. A steady pulsing, like a heartbeat, except it was

more like the pulsing of circuitry. It seemed weak and of low quality. Willow could sense the direction of whose pulse it was. It was in the direction that WALL-E's cry had come from.

It wasn't long before they saw a large group of robots all clustered in a ring around something. The pulsing was in the exact same direction as the group of robots.

_Oh no_, thought Willow.

She realized what had happened.

Willow pushed through the crowd, anxious to see if her suspicions were correct, but hoping that they weren't.

GO-4 was right behind her.

When she got to the front, she let out a small gasp, horrified that her suspicions were true. WALL-E was leaning over EVE, who was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Willow couldn't see WALL-E's face from where she was, but she was sure that it had the utmost look of confusion, horror, and concern. Willow then became aware that her

expression made her look like she knew that EVE was in danger of dying. She tried to partially restrain herself, but to no avail.

Finally, a robot asked, "What happened?"

Another robot answered, "She said that she felt sick and then collapsed."

"Without any other warning?"

"Correct."

GO-4 was the next to speak.

"WALL-E, you better take EVE somewhere much more protected. She won't last very long out in the open."

With the help of a few other robots, WALL-E very carefully picked EVE up, holding her against his chest for support, and somewhat slowly motored off towards the city.

The crowd soon dispersed, except for Willow. The pulsating in her head was as strong as ever, but what really had her attention was the moving image of a creature, in her mind,

that seemed familiar and seemed to be feeling exactly what Willow was feeling, portraying it through body language and facial expression. It was a reptilian creature that stood

somewhat upright. It had a long tail and small, pointy teeth. Its fingers and toes ended in medium-length claws. Its irises were red. Before she could look at anything else, Willow

began to hear a faint voice calling to her. Suddenly, she was being shaken violently.

"Willow, wake up!"

Her reaction was almost instantaneous.

She quickly got into a battle stance…then saw that it was PR-T.

"Willow, where have you been? We've been looking all over for you."

Willow didn't feel like talking about EVE. "I didn't know that you all wanted me to come with you."

"I see." PR-T turned to GO-4. "You knew this was going to happen." She sounded a bit angry.

GO-4 sounded ashamed of himself. "I did. I just didn't get a chance to tell anyone and I didn't know if it had already happened. I'm sorry."

Willow said, a bit slowly, "What exactly is wrong with her?"

GO-4 seemed to sigh. "After Auto had told the captain to come to the bridge, he removed the plant from EVE and I put it in my chest cavity."

PR-T, sounding annoyed, said, "I know that. And I'm certain Willow knows that."

GO-4 continued. "But after I hid the plant in my chest cavity, Auto…Auto planted a slow-acting virus into EVE, one known to cause memory problems in the early stage, so that there

would be an explanation as to why EVE came back positive but didn't have a plant. It's also known to cause aggression in the early stage."

_Well, that explains it,_ Willow thought.

PR-T gasped. "_You…you don't mean THAT virus…do you?_"

"I'm afraid so."

PR-T was absolutely horrified. "_Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. You can't possibly be serious._"

Willow was concerned. "What is it?"

"_The Hepalotis virus…if caught in the early stage, it's harmless. But…if not detected in time, the…the robot…I don't want to even think about it! Oh, what do we do now? We can't take EVE to _

_the repair ward. She'd die before we even get halfway there. But if we don't do anything, she'll die for certain. I suppose Auto could extract the virus, but there is no way he would be willing to _

_do so or that we would be willing to reactivate him and make him mobile. Oh, this is hopeless!_"

Before Willow could ask about Auto, a steward came rushing up to them. He was absolutely frantic.

"Any of you seen the captain?"

"I think I saw him with the maintenance workers…"

"Thanks."

He quickly rushed off. GO-4, PR-T, and Willow followed him.

They soon came across the humans' encampment. Their "homes" were escape pods from the _Axiom_. As for the humans, Willow couldn't help but stare at them. They looked like huge

babies. They stared at her, wondering what she was.

When they got close to the maintenance workshop, the steward began saying, "Captain. Captain. Captain." There was no emotion in his voice at all. Soon, a man called out, "Yes?

What is it?" He stepped out of the workshop. He was wearing a white jumpsuit instead of a red one, he had a jacket on with only the first button fastened around his neck, and he

was wearing a hat.

The steward stopped in front of him. "Auto is missing from the bridge."

The captain's eyes went wide. "You mean…he's not there?"

"Correct, sir. There isn't even a sign that he was ever there in the first place."

The captain looked horrified. "Did you look at the security cameras?"

"Yes, sir. They didn't reveal anything. However, there is a two-hour time gap in all of the cameras in the bridge and looking into the bridge. Before the time gap, Auto is there. After it,

he is not. It is clear proof that he was reactivated and made mobile. He does not want us finding out who reactivated him or what he now looks like."

A robot quickly spoke. "Well if he's missing, we should go find him." A plethora of robots agreed with him.

Willow said, "We should have some robots guarding WALL-E's truck."

"Why?"

"Because that's probably where WALL-E and EVE are."

"What makes you think that?"

"I'll tell you later." She turned to the crowd of robots that had gathered. "Who wants to go find Auto?" A plethora of robots answered.

"Then let's do it!"

They loudly cheered. When the cheering died down, a robot yelled, "Where do we even start?"

"Our best bet is in the city. There are a lot of places to hide in there."

"Well what are we waiting for? To the city!"

They charged towards the city. Willow flew to the front of the crowd. When they got to the edge, Willow flew onto a somewhat tall piece of rubble. The robots stopped in front of the

rock, awaiting instructions.

"All right. We split up into groups of ten, be sure to remain in easy sight of someone at all times. If you must split into smaller groups, have at least one other robot with you at all

times. Remember, it will not be easy to find him, as he will likely soon figure out that we are looking for him. If you find him, do not let him out of your sight and quickly inform all other

group members that you have sighted him. If he attempts to run away, which he likely will, chase after him. If he attempts to attack, which he likely will, avoid injury to yourself or

other group members. If you manage to capture him, ensure that he does not get away and send one group member to inform me. That member will lead me back to where Auto is.

If he is still there, I will give a signal as to our location. All groups must go there immediately. Is everyone clear on the instructions?"

Nobody said anything.

Willow looked up at the sky, then back at the group. "When the sun sets, all groups must return here. You have approximately five hours and thirty minutes. Go!" Everybody rushed

off. She stayed on the rock.

When everyone was gone, she slouched, sighed, and said to herself, "Oh…what…have I gotten myself into?"


	6. An unexpected issue

Willow didn't know what she should do now. She wanted to go see how EVE was doing…but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She decided to join the other robots in searching for

Auto. She was about to take off when a robot yelled out, "Hey Willow!"

_That was fast_, she thought.

The robot continued. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is we found Auto. The bad news is…something else found him first." Willow then saw that some of the

group members were carrying Auto…and he wasn't moving. She went over to him to take a closer look at him. A few of his legs were damaged and his eye screen was cracked. His

eye was also dim to the point where Willow almost couldn't see it. Then she realized that there was a second pulsing in her head. She realized that because the second pulsing was

coming from him…and, for some reason, the first pulsing had gotten stronger.

She wondered what could have damaged him so much. Then she said, "I see. I'll get the others." She flew up high and let out a loud call to signal that the hunt was over. To her

surprise, her call quickly turned into a screech that didn't completely sound like it could have come from an owl. When she realized that, she stopped. Fortunately, nobody else that

heard it realized that and the robots had gotten the message. It took less than a minute for all the robots to get back. When all the robots were back, Willow swooped back down to

the piece of rubble and said, "You all know that we have found Auto. However, there is an unexpected issue. It seems that something else has found him first." Some of robots

began murmuring worryingly. Willow almost couldn't hear it. The pulsing was still in her head. She went back over to the robots carrying Auto and said, "You better take him to the

repair ward. I want to know what happened." The robots nodded and went off. She turned towards the large group of robots and said, "You all may return to…whatever it was that

you were doing before." They all went off.

Willow looked around and said, "Once again…I am alone."

Then, she heard, not very far away, M-O yell, "Willow! Willow!" She then heard PR-T yell, "Willow! There you are!" She looked and saw the group of robots she had seen yesterday.

They got closer.

"Willow, I think that EVE is getting stronger."

Willow's eyebrows went up. "That's good…and a little unexpected. You told me that-."

"It might be only temporary. We better get there fast."

"All right." Willow didn't really feel like going to see EVE, but she felt she had no choice. She suddenly began to feel increasingly dizzy.

PR-T noticed. "Are you okay, Willow?"

"I think…I think I'm going to faint."

That was exactly what she did next.

When she woke up, she was inside what, at first, seemed to be a building. Except the ceiling was metal and there were various objects on shelves on the walls. There was also a

spot on the ceiling that was a different color than the rest of it. She looked forward and she could see outside. There were three robots in the distance that were approaching

wherever she was. Then she noticed the insect on her chest. It was a brown insect that was kinda cute. Then she noticed that the second pulsing in her head was gone. All she

could hear was the first pulsing. And it was coming from behind her. She suddenly knew where she was.

WALL-E's trailer.

She quickly got up and looked behind her. The insect got off.

What Willow saw made her quietly gasp.

There was WALL-E. He was slightly leaning over EVE…who was in a bed that didn't even look makeshift. It looked like a basket and was larger than EVE, but not by too much. WALL-

E had also apparently lined the basket with a thick layer of something that was black, but Willow wasn't close enough to tell exactly what it was. To Willow, it was clear that WALL-E

loved EVE very much. She had never seen this kind of devotion before.

Willow gave a slight smile. EVE was doing much better. She was awake and holding WALL-E's hand. Her eyes weren't completely open and she was still lying down, but other than

that she looked fine. The pulsing in Willow's head then went away and her hearing returned to normal.

After that, it seemed completely quiet. However, Willow couldn't shake the feeling that she and all the others were being watched…

The sides of Willow's ribs suddenly began to hurt a little. She ignored it.

She turned to look outside again and saw Auto, fully repaired, standing a little ways away from the ramp leading up to the floor of the trailer. He was looking at her. Behind him were

two robots trying to catch up. They were obviously meant to keep Auto from hurting anyone and vice versa.

Auto took his gaze off of Willow and walked up the ramp. He continued until he was ahead of Willow but behind everyone else. The two robots finally caught up and positioned

themselves in front of Auto, so he wouldn't be able to go any farther. He didn't seem to have any intention of doing so.

Willow was getting a little uncomfortable. The feeling that they were all being watched wasn't going away. In fact, it was getting stronger. She didn't hear any pulsing, so she knew

that nobody was in danger of dying. She then felt the thumping in her chest. It felt like a heartbeat…

Suddenly, she felt a large hand on her shoulder. She looked down and saw four long and almost straight claws on her chest. She felt another, shorter claw on her back. The claws

belonged to the hand. The hand began to pull her towards the entrance to the trailer. She obeyed and walked backwards. She didn't dare to look behind her.

Just when she had gotten to the entrance, the hand took itself off. Willow then saw why: EVE was looking directly at her.

EVE said, "Hi, Willow." The weakness in her voice was faintly detectable.

Willow said, rather quietly, "Hi, EVE."

WALL-E didn't say a thing. He had seen Auto and was now leaning over EVE protectively. He didn't take his eyes off Auto.

VN-GO said, "You still recognize her? I hardly do!" He sounded a bit astonished.

Willow said to him, "What do you mean when you say you hardly recognize me?"

PR-T held up her mirror. Willow was astounded. Now she was completely black and both her eyes had visible, red irises. "Also," PR-T said, "I think you've grown about two inches."

"I think she has," replied a monotonous voice: Auto's English voice.

The group of robots turned…and immediately clustered in front of EVE and WALL-E, as if to protect them. Willow stayed right where she was. All of the robots were speechless. PR-T

was the first to speak. "H-how did you-?"

"I was turned on and reconfigured to be mobile. You should've been able to tell that."

"Who did it?"

"I refuse to answer."

"Why did they do it?"

"I refuse to answer."

"…What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I heard about EVE's condition and wanted to check on her."

EVE said, sounding rather angry, "I'm fine, thank you."

Auto switched to the Axiom code. "You're angry at me because I basically killed WALL-E, aren't you?"

"Of course I am."

PR-T spoke up again. "How is EVE getting over-?"

"Back when the Hepalotis virus was a major problem, we installed an experimental antivirus program into EVE to see if it could destroy the virus. Unfortunately, we never got a

chance to test it."

"I see…"

"By the way, are any of you getting the feeling that we're being watched?" Everybody said yes.

Auto continued. "I also feel that whatever attacked me, whatever caused such extensive damage, is the same thing watching us now."

"And I have a feeling that it's me it's interested in."

"Why do you say that, Willow?"

Suddenly, the pain on the sides of Willow's ribs worsened greatly and, at the same time, she became very dizzy and faint. She weakly said, "Oh dear," before she fainted.


	7. The eyes

The first thing Willow detected as she finally began to awaken was a strange smell. When she began to open her eyes, she detected bright lights, like floodlights, shining down upon

her. She looked away from the source of the lights. When she had recovered her senses, she looked around. The smell was coming from massive piles of garbage. The lights were

coming from the eyes of two massive robots that resembled WALL-E.

"Phew," said one. "I almost thought you were dead."

Willow was astonished. "What?"

"You were lying there without moving for so long, we considered burying you," said the other. "And we might have…had it not been for the dramatic physical changes that started

happening to you before we could start."

Willow was even more astonished. "What?"

"Look for yourself."

Willow now looked like a small dragon, except for her face and she still had black feathers. The spot where the sides of her ribs had been hurting was now where front limbs

connected to her body. Her hands were like the hand that had grabbed her shoulder, although her claws were much, much shorter. Also, the claws of the hand had been dark grey.

Her claws, on both her feet and her hands, were the color of ivory. So was her beak. Her face had been elongated, along with her beak. The inside of her beak had sharp teeth. They

couldn't be seen if her beak was closed. The teeth continued to her mouth, where they became molars, like those of a human. Her hind legs were no longer like those of a bird's. Her

wings were also dragon-like, but somewhat more in terms of length. Her neck was long and thick, as well.

She stood up onto her four legs. Her shoulder height was exactly the same as her height just before she had fainted.

She looked at the robots. "How long have I been out?"

"Several hours," said one.

"How did I end up in here?"

"Beats me. You were here when we found you."

Willow more closely examined the pile of garbage she had been lying on. It looked like a nest.

She decided it was time to leave. "I must go now."

"All right. Goodbye."

In the opposite direction of the robots, she dashed off for a running start. She ran with incredible speed. Her muscles were very strong and her long, thick tail was a perfect

counterbalance. She flapped her wings and took off. She flew through a blasted-open door and into a garbage shaft and through an open garbage shaft entrance. She was in one of

the service bot hallways. Willow momentarily wondered what it looked like back when the Axiom was in space.

As she ran through the hallways, she got a strange feeling. Suddenly, it felt like something was pulling her. She couldn't get away. It was too strong. It wasn't long before she was

outside.

The night was almost pitch-black. Thick clouds were completely blocking the moon's light. There was a sinister atmosphere in the air. It was also cooled off to the point where it

seemed unnatural. Willow's layer of insulating feathers helped, but not by much. The pulling sensation pulled her into the sky, where it was basically impossible for her to be seen. It

was leading her towards the city. As she got close to the city, she suddenly remembered something: her paintings. She pulled away from the pulling and flew to where she had made

her paintings. When she got there, she was fairly surprised. Even in the darkness, it was clear that all her paintings were now completely white.

A voice behind her said, "You don't need those anymore." Willow whirled around…and, at first, she didn't see what had said that. Then she saw it. Against the white of where a

painting had once been, it was easy to see. A black orb that seemed to be emitting darkness. It spoke again. "Besides, not all of those painting were accurate." It moved towards

her. She backed away until she hit the wall. She was becoming scared. After a few moments, she said, "What do you want with me?"

"It is time."

"Time for what?"

"It is time for us to join together."

"What exactly do you mean by 'join together'?"

"I will show you."

It suddenly rushed to her. Before Willow could even flinch, it touched her and was absorbed into her body. Willow struggled to breathe, her legs could hardly support her, and her

vision blurred.

"_My apologies,"_ the voice said. _"It will be a while before you get used to me being in here. You're very healthy, by the way." _The voice was coming from her mind.

_Why…why are you…?_

"_Very simple. You have a date with destiny. Although that won't be happening for a very long time."_

_How long?_

"_A bit less than twice your current age."_

_Would you mind giving me a more exact number?_

"_Approximately 1,300 years."_

_That's…a long time._

"_I suppose it is. In the meantime, I shall be waiting in here. I suppose you already have figured it out, but you will be experiencing some fairly unpleasant side effects. They'll get better as _

_time goes on. Trust me. As compensation, I will inform you of any changes to your physical state, including things that are supposed to happen."_

_Um…thanks?_

"_One more thing. I suggest that you look up."_

When Willow looked up, what she saw made her eyes widen. It was EVE, and she was looking at Willow strangely, although it was clear that EVE knew that it wasn't the kidnapper.

"Who are you?" EVE was clearly confused.

"EVE, it's me, Willow!" Willow was surprised when she said that. She hardly recognized the raspy, weak voice that was her own.

EVE's eyes went wide. "Willow? How did-what happened?"

"Long story." Willow didn't feel like talking.

"Do you feel alright? Your voice sounds… Also, you look like you're going to fall over any second."

"I…will be alright."

"I hope so."

Willow staggered over to EVE's side. Together they went back to WALL-E's trailer. EVE ensured that Willow didn't leave her side. When they got to WALL-E's trailer, the first thing

that Willow noticed was Auto, who was pacing back and forth in front of the trailer and was constantly looking around. He was clearly anxious. When EVE and Willow got close

enough, he stopped pacing and looked at Willow.

"Is that you, Willow?" Willow nodded in response. She detected faint emotion in his voice.

Auto said, "How did- never mind, don't answer that."

Willow approached Auto. EVE didn't follow. She still didn't trust him.

Willow said, "Are you alright, Auto?" Her voice was almost back to normal.

"It-it's just that-well-ever since whatever it was attacked me did so, I've had a strange feeling that gets stronger when you get close to me…"

Auto then went limp. His legs automatically stiffened to prevent him from falling over.

_What's going on?_

"_Be prepared to grab the wheel, but don't touch the taser."_

_Taser? Auto has a taser?_

Auto suddenly lifted his head, flipped out his taser, and charged at Willow. She was quick to react. She grabbed his wheel and strained against his efforts to taser her.

PR-T yelled, "What are you doing?"

Auto yelled, "I-I don't know! I am unable to control my actions!" The emotion in his voice was much more detectable.

Willow knew that he wasn't doing this of his own will. He had no reason to attack her.

"_Willow…look to your left...now."_

Willow looked…and didn't stop looking. She couldn't see its body because it was hiding in a building, but she could see its eyes. Its eyes were like Willow's, except these eyes were a

much deeper shade of red: the color of blood. The eyes then narrowed, the thing realizing that it had been spotted. The eyes disappeared as the thing went away. Auto suddenly

went limp and, this time, fell onto the ground.

Willow looked at Auto with wide eyes and, in a shaky voice, said, "Auto…I…"

Auto, thinking that Willow thought that he had betrayed her, got up and ran away.

Afterwards, it was silent for a few minutes. VN-GO was the first to speak.

"Did anyone else see those eyes?" Everybody said yes.

PR-T said, "What WAS that thing?"

Willow said, "I don't know, but I wanna find out."

She ran off in the direction that Auto had gone: to the city.

After she left, D-FIB said, "Am I the only one who realizes that it's unnaturally dark tonight?"

As Willow ran through the city, she kept tripping over things and running into walls. Even though she had superb night vision, it wasn't doing a thing for her tonight. Then an idea

popped into her head…

_Hey you._

"_Yes?"_

_How are you making this darkness?_

"_I'm not causing this. Inside your body, I can't do anything except try to influence your mind. Something else is causing this darkness. What, I can't say. However…uh oh."_

_What's wrong?_

"_You're being watched. And they don't have positive intentions. By the way, Auto is about 20 feet away from you."_

Willow stopped running, looked…and saw a red light in some garbage. She ran towards it and, sure enough, it was Auto, lying in a pile of trash.

Willow gently stroked him and said, "Auto…"

"Willow? What are you doing here?" Auto sounded somewhat weak.

"I was looking for the thing that was controlling you."

"What?"

"When you were trying to attack me, I saw two red eyes hiding in a building. When they went away, you went limp. You have no logical reason to attack me, so it seems like the only

possibility."

"You trust me so much. The captain used to trust me like that. Hard to think that wasn't very long ago. I ran into him on the way to the trailer. He made sure that I didn't leave

without those guards."

"By the way, where are those guards?"

"I don't know. When I was chasing what had kidnapped you, I didn't look back until it was long since out of sight. I heard something behind me, and when I looked, those guards

weren't there. I looked for them, but I couldn't find them."

"Was the thing that kidnapped me…the same thing that attacked you?"

"No. The thing that kidnapped you was slightly larger and had a large scar on its face. But they were the same species. They were both bipedal and had long claws on their hands.

Another thing I feel I should tell you are that they both had grey beaks and claws, not ivory."

"Hmm. Well, I better get you back to the trailer. Or at least somewhere safe. I'm not about to leave you out here like this. At least it's warm."

"Then how come I feel cold?"

Willow's eyes widened. That wasn't good.

"_Willow…look behind you…now."_

Willow looked…and gasped. 10 feet in front of her were 11 pairs of red glowing eyes, all moving. Each one was a slightly different shade of red. But each showed the same emotion.

The pair in the center was up higher than the others…and it was this pair that terrified Willow the most, for this pair had eyes that were as red as blood…

**Author's note: I would like to be clear that sentences in italics are the orb's words to Willow via her mind. Please review, everyone. Reviews give me the motivation to keep **

**going.**


	8. The Albatrians

Willow said, "What do you want?"

A very unsettling voice said, "We want you…dead."

"Why?"

"Because you are half-albino."

Willow had no idea what he was talking about. "What's wrong with being half-albino?"

"Albinos are inferior."

"How are albinos inferior?"

"Normal Albatrians have black feathers, red eyes, and grey beaks and claws. Albino Albatrians have white feathers, golden eyes, and ivory beaks and claws."

"You consider albinos inferior because of their color difference? Wait, what are Albatrians?"

"Our species, the Albatrians, from Albatria. Wait a minute…your voice…let out your call, unique to every Albatrian. You don't even have to try very hard."

Willow, after minor hesitance, let out a call that sounded half-trill and half-howl. It sounded just like the call she had let out during the search for Auto.

The blood-red eyes widened and then narrowed.

"So…you're still alive. I must admit, I never thought that you survived that day."

"What day? Who are you?"

"Maybe this will help."

He threw his head up and let out a call that sounded like a screechy howl. To Willow, it sounded familiar…

Then, a distant memory rushed to make itself known: against a wall of orange, one of her kind with blood-red eyes letting out the screechy howl and then chasing her until he was

blocked by a wall of debris.

Coming out of it, Willow looked at him with horror.

"You tried to kill me."

"So you do remember. My name is Sorkien. My troop received an anonymous tip that a half-albino was on this planet. We came here and we found you after mere moments of

searching."

"So you were the one controlling Auto."

"The mechanical wheel with 8 legs? Yes, I used him to try to kill you. However, both you and the other automatons saw me, so I had to leave."

"What did you do to Auto?"

"The Veil of Darkness has some adverse effects on automatons."

"Veil of Darkness? What's that?"

"Veil of Darkness is my son's active ability."

"Active ability?"

Sorkien rolled his eyes. "Every Albatrian has an ability that can be activated spontaneously, also known as their active ability, and an ability that is always active, their passive ability.

No two Albatrians have the same combination."

"Can your son reverse Veil of Darkness? I wanna be able to see you."

"He can. Jan, do it."

Willow felt something touch her sides. Suddenly, the darkness started to go away. It was as if it was being sucked into something. She looked behind Sorkien and saw an Albatrian,

apparently Jan, the same size as her, with his head raised and black stuff going into his mouth. Soon all of the black stuff disappeared into his mouth and he looked at her. It became

much easier to see. Willow could now make out the other Albatrians clearly. They were all looking at her and smiling in a way that made her feel very uneasy. She looked down at her

sides and saw that Sorkien was holding onto her sides. He picked her up and set her down several feet away from Auto. He was facing away from Auto. Willow began to hear a

pulsing in her head…and it was coming from her. Sorkien's evil smile only deepened her feelings of fear and dread, the feelings that come when you know that death is close at hand,

and you don't want to die.

Sorkien said, "Well, it's about time I finally get to finish what I started. Soon you shall join the others who died that day."

As Willow's heart sped up, so did the pulsing. Willow watched as Sorkien raised hand up, his long, sharp claws glinting in the moonlight that filtered through the clouds. Willow shut

her eyes and raised her arms in an attempt to deflect the approaching blow.

A few moments later, she heard a strange bouncing sound.

She also heard someone gasp. She looked up and saw Sorkien striking at what appeared to be a strange yellow barrier between them. The pulsing had gone away.

She looked to the side and saw Jan covering his mouth with his hands. His eyes were wide and filled with shock and surprise. He suddenly took his hands away and said, "Stop! We

shouldn't be doing this!"

Sorkien stopped attacking the barrier and said, "Why do you say that?"

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"The legend of Andrentureasu!"

"What does that old myth have to do with what's going on now?"

"It isn't a myth! It's true! And it explicitly says that Andrentureasu used a yellow barrier to protect herself from Chirabanui's attacks! And there is no other record of any Albatrian

being able to do that!"

_Andrentureasu…I know I've never heard that name before…so why does it seem…familiar?_

"Jan, you know that it's just a myth."

"It's not! It also says that after she killed Chirabanui, a mysterious force came out of nowhere and killed her! What if this girl is the reincarnation of Andrentureasu?"

"Jan, I told you once and I'll tell you again. It's just a myth! Nothing more than a fantasy!"

"No, it's true! There is irrefutable proof of it! And you know that!"

"Jan…"

Then he noticed that Willow was trying to get away. He lunged at Willow, only to be stopped by Jan, who had rushed to get in front of Willow.

"Jan…get out of my way. Now."

"No. I'm tired of doing what you and Janaria want me to do. I'm tired of doing what Jarcaunio wants me to do. I'm going to do what I want to do, and I want to do the right thing.

And it looks like that involves protecting Andrentureasu from you."

One of the members of the troop looked at Jan scornfully. "Shame on you, Jan!" It was apparently his mother.

Sorkien looked at Jan with an increasing hatred.

"If it is death that you want, then it is death that you will get."

Suddenly, the ground next to Sorkien exploded. Everyone jumped back in surprise.

"Get away from them, NOW." At the sound of that voice, Willow smiled. It was EVE. She was pointing her blaster gun at Sorkien.

"Yeah. G-get away from them." WALL-E was next to her. He was fairly scared.

All of the Albatrians looked around. They were basically surrounded by robots, all ready to take the offensive.

Sorkien gritted his teeth. "Fine. But the wheel is mine!"

He turned around, and, after a few moments, said, "WHERE IS IT?" He turned around again, his face showing more hatred than ever before. Willow merely smiled.

One of the troop members said, "Sorkien, I think we should get out of here."

Sorkien snorted at Jan and Willow before running off with the rest of his troop.

Jan was relieved. "Phew. If you guys hadn't shown up, we might've been in some serious trouble!"

EVE retracted her blaster gun into her arm and floated down to them.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yeah. We're fine."

Jan was looking at WALL-E, who had motored up to EVE's side.

"He's pretty cute, especially for a robot."

EVE's eyes turned into happy crescents. "Yes, he is."

They looked at each other and held hands. Jan stared at the robots for a few moments, looking confused. Then he smiled and shook his head a little bit. Willow wasn't sure exactly

what he was thinking.

Auto then came out of the shadows, along with GO-4. Willow looked at Auto and said, "Are you alright, Auto?"

"I'm fine. Sorkien, the leader, he was the one who attacked me. He was talking to the others about finding you when I saw him. I tried to spy on them, but one of them saw me and,

well, I think you can guess the rest."

Willow turned towards Jan and said, "Who were those that you mentioned? Who's Janaria? Who's Jarcaunio?"

Jan looked at her with an expression of grave seriousness. "Janaria is my mom. She can cause extremely frightening hallucinations. I should know. I once accidentally scared her and,

well, it didn't end well. She can tell what is real and what isn't. I'm not sure what that means. It's all she would tell me when I asked her about it. As for Jarcaunio…"

"Yes?"

"Jarcaunio is the supreme leader of all Albatrians. He is in the highest position we have. He took control when his dad, the previous ruler, died. Afterwards, there were rumors that

Jarcaunio had killed him, but there was no way to definitively prove that he had. An autopsy had been done, but the cause of death seemed to be old age. Jarcaunio's dad was very

old, even by our standards. When Jarcaunio became ruler, he began to find ways to get people to hate albinos. I haven't the foggiest idea why, though. It wasn't long before all of

the Albatrians on Albatria that were albino or had albino ancestors had been rounded up into a single town. When I was 6 months old, 2 months after he became ruler, the people

hated the albinos so much, they demanded that he exterminate them. He was more than happy to comply. He gathered all the soldiers on Albatria, including my dad, went to the

town and killed all of the albinos they could find. When all was done, not one albino was left alive. The same was done for all of our colonized planets, too. Recently, my dad, Sorkien,

got a message saying that a half-albino had somehow escaped the initial slaughter. You know the rest."

Old memories boiled up in Willow's mind. Screaming, albinos being slaughtered left and right, and fire. She said, "Is that everything?"

Jan shook his head. "Not quite. Jarcaunio had a fully grown daughter when he became ruler. Her name was Ferrelia. She went with him on the attack on the albinos' town. When

they came back, he said that she had been killed by albinos during the attack and her corpse mutilated beyond all recognition. He said he knew it was her because he saw the

albinos do it. However, now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if he killed her because she either tried to defend the albinos or he killed her himself and said that albinos

had killed her. As the son of a soldier, I saw her more than once. She once even looked after me while my parents helped round up the albinos. She was very beautiful. She would've

been the perfect mom." Jan gave a slight smile at that. He apparently had very fond memories of her.

Willow slightly frowned. "Ferrelia…that name sounds familiar…in more ways than one."

Jan looked at her. "Do you remember your mom?"

"I probably do, just not right now."

A robot in the background said, "Can we get back to sleep? It's almost midnight!"

Jan said, "It would be a good idea to get some sleep. Let's all retire for the rest of the night."

Everybody agreed.

Jan turned towards EVE and said, "By the way, I should tell you about something."

EVE looked at him. "What?"

"My dad is no fool. If he gets a chance to take control of Auto again, he'll take it. My dad can control machinery. He can control robots up to a certain distance. We must ensure that

Auto doesn't fall into his hands. If he does, I don't know what he's gonna do. Also, he'll either try to find a way to use that blaster gun of your to his advantage or he'll try to find a

way around it. And I'm pretty sure that a way around it would involve harming you in some way. He may also try other things. I've known him my whole life and there are still things

he does that I didn't expect. Just thought I should warn you."

"Err, thanks for the warning."

Willow looked at Jan with half-closed eyelids and said, "You like to talk don't you?"

Jan looked at her, smiled, and said, "Yep."

Jan and Willow began to follow EVE and WALL-E back to the trailer.

"_Willow, you're being watched again."_

Willow looked behind her…and saw another Albatrian looking directly at her. She could make out a large scar running down its face…

When they finally got to the trailer, it was clear that everyone was tired. As they went to their spots, nobody said a word. Auto and GO-4 chose a spot near the door. Willow and Jan

were the last to enter. They settled in the aisle, cuddled up to each other. Jan looked around curiously at WALL-E's huge collection of items. Auto closed the door. Everyone soon

dropped off to sleep. Willow took one last look around before lowering her head and closing her eyes.

_Finally, I get to sleep in WALL-E's trailer._


	9. Ferrelia arrives

The night passed without any incident. Jan and Willow were the first to wake up. Willow woke up a few minutes after Jan. She didn't feel quite right. It was a little bit harder for her

to breathe. She also felt slightly dizzy and her vision was blurred around the edges. It was as if something had weakened her while she was asleep…

Jan saw that something wasn't quite right and quietly (so as not to wake the others) said, "What's wrong, Andrentureasu?"

"It's just…I don't feel right." Willow had never told him that her name wasn't Andrentureasu.

"Would you like to stay here and rest?"

"I have a feeling…that would only make it worse."

"Do you know what's going on?"

"I think I do…but there's nothing…you can do."

Jan looked at her worryingly. Willow looked at him with authority.

Willow tried to stand up…but her legs buckled and she fell back onto the floor.

With some assistance from Jan, she was able to get out the door.

She looked out at the horizon. The sun hadn't quite started to rise yet.

Willow looked at Jan and said, "When the others wake up, tell them I'll see them at the humans' settlement. I'm going to the city."

"The city? Why?"

"Last night, as we were leaving, I looked back and saw an Albatrian with a large scar on its face. I think it can help me."

"Well, I can certainly tell you that none of the members of my dad's troop have large scars on their face."

"I didn't think so."

With that she ran off towards the city.

"_I overheard that conversation with Jan. I think that going after that Albatrian is a bad idea. Didn't Auto say that the Albatrian that kidnapped you had a large scar on its face?"_

_He did._

"_So why are you going after it? That makes no sense to me."_

_Well then surely you can tell me what's happening to me._

"_Didn't I tell you that you would experience fairly unpleasant side effects as a result of me being in here? Well that's what's happening now. You don't need to worry. It's only temporary."_

_I don't care. I want you out. Get out now and I won't try to find the Albatrian._

"_You don't understand! I'm in here for a very important reason!"_

_And that reason is?_

"_I can't tell you that! That's deeply classified!"_

_I think I know why you're in here._

"_You think that I'm deliberately causing this?"_

_In short, yes._

Willow then stopped. She had arrived.

_We're here._

"_Willow, it's behind you!"_

Willow slowly turned around and looked at it in the eyes.

"_Willow, run! Get away from it!"_

It was definitely an Albatrian. It just stood there, looking at Willow.

"_Willow, I'm serious! It wants to hurt you!"_

Its long claws looked sharp and shiny.

"_Willow! Get away from it! NOW!"_

It had an ugly grey scar that started on its forehead and went down the left side of its face, curving to avoid its eye and beak. Other than that, it seemed quite pretty. Willow

couldn't help but give a slight smile. It smiled back.

"_Willow! You need to get away from it!"_

Willow ignored the ranting voice in her head. There was something about this Albatrian that was warmly familiar. It lifted up one of its claws and gently stroked the side of her face

with the blunt side.

Suddenly, its smile became a frown. It backed up and lifted its hands, as if it were lifting up something using its claws. As it was lifting its claws, Willow indeed felt something being

pulled out of her. Darkness crossed her vision. Soon, it stopped. She then felt a whole lot better. She looked up and saw the black orb hovering over her head. It moved away as the

Albatrian who had removed it moved above Willow, as if to protect her from it. The orb said, "Well then…looks like I'll be leaving. Of course, this won't be the last you see of me…"

With that, it quickly left.

Willow turned to the Albatrian and said, "Thank you."

The Albatrian smiled and nodded.

Willow said, "Why did you kidnap me? And take me to the garbage bay?"

The Albatrian said, "I knew what was going to happen to you and I didn't want them to freak out. The garbage bay seemed the last place they would think of looking." It was clearly

female.

Willow said, "Your voice sounds familiar."

The Albatrian smiled. "I'm glad you still remember me."

"Are you my mom?"

"Yes."

"Hi, mom."

"Hello, Willow."

"I want you to meet my friends. Don't be surprised if they have hostile reactions when they first see you."

"I won't be."

Together, Willow and her mother flew towards the human encampment. They landed when they got close. Willow ran through it, trying to find Jan or one of the robots. Willow's mom

looked at every human they came across, curious. Willow soon came across Jan. He was carrying a heavy-looking piece of equipment.

"Hey, Jan!"

"Hey, Wi-!"

When Jan saw Willow's mother, he dropped what he was carrying and stared at her in complete and total disbelief. The thing he dropped made a loud crashing sound.

"What was that?" The captain looked out of one of the pods.

The first thing he saw was Willow and her mother.

He said, "Who are you?"

Willow said, "I'm Willow and this is my mom. Actually sir, you met me yesterday."

"I did?"

"Remember that black feathered thing? That was me."

"…I'm not going to ask how you managed to change so dramatically."

Willow's mother said, "This is what Willow really is. When I saw her as a black owl, I couldn't believe it. I haven't the slightest idea how that could've happened."

Jan said, "Your…mom?"

Willow looked at him and said, "Yes, this is my mom. Why?"

"It's…Ferrelia."

Willow was shocked. "Ferrelia? Daughter of Jarcaunio?"

"Yes."

"You told me she was dead!"

Ferrelia frowned. "Did my father say that? I'm not surprised. He probably wanted people to hate the albinos even more. Why he wanted to get rid of them, I'll never know."

Jan said, "How did you get that scar?"

"When Jarcaunio started attacking the albinos, I tried to defend them. I was able to hold off his forces until Jarcaunio fought me. I thought that he would show at least some

restraint on me. He didn't. As for his power, I thought that by showing no restraint on him, I could defeat him. I greatly underestimated him. He was far stronger than I could have

ever imagined. When he gave me the scar, I ran. When I saw Willow, I picked her up and ran. Due to the fact that I wasn't an albino, I was able to get away. I escaped the planet

with Willow and, with the help of a scientist of another species, sent Willow to where I knew she would be safe. Not long ago, I decided to see how Willow was doing."

Willow said, "Was the scientist a reptile?"

"Yes. You remember him?"

"Only a brief vision I had yesterday."

Jan said, "Why did you try to defend the albinos?"

Ferrelia said, "Because I was in love with one of them. I think that's why Jarcaunio killed his father and hunted the albinos."

"Jarcaunio killed his dad?"

"I knew he had all along, but I never said anything. I didn't know why at the time. I now know that it was because he wanted to get rid of the albinos as soon as he could, and he

was tired of waiting for his father to die."

Willow said, "Couldn't he just get rid of the albinos anyway?"

"No. As the heir, he couldn't do anything without the current leader's consent, and Jarcaunio's father would never have given him permission to do that. In fact, he would've made me

the next heir if Jarcaunio had tried to ask him that."

Jan said, "I think he wanted to get rid of the albinos because he wanted to prevent Willow from being born."

"Why would he want that?"

"Because Willow is the reincarnation of Andrentureasu."

Ferrelia looked at him incredulously. "Why in the world do you think that?"

"When Sorkien tried to kill her last night, she protected herself with a yellow barrier. You know the legend."

"But if that's the case, why would Jarcaunio want to prevent Andrenturasu from being reincarnated? And why didn't he kill me when he had the chance? After all, I am Willow's

mother."

"If you're Willow's mother, then why did you kidnap her?" It was EVE. The whole band of robots was behind Ferrelia.

Ferrelia explained.

EVE said, "I see. I will admit, none of us ever thought of looking in the garbage bay."

VN-GO said, "Yeah, that was a good idea. By the way, has anyone seen Auto and GO-4 lately?"

Everybody was silent.

Jan said, "Uh oh."

"HELP!"

Auto's cry for help could be heard clearly by all of them. They looked in the direction it had come from. They saw, to their horror, Sorkien in the sky with Auto and GO-4 in its arms.

Willow wasted no time in taking to the skies. Ferrelia and Jan were close behind. Sorkien saw them coming.

He said, "Ferrelia! So you're alive! Not that it matters to me. I saw what you were doing that day. I never expected you to be so tratorious. Why did you defend them?"

"Because I had mated with one and made a child."

"The half-albino I was looking for? I never expected you to consider doing that. Anyway, goodbye."

With that he flew towards the city with unexpected speed. They lost him in there. They searched for hours, but it was no use. He had escaped them. They soon gave up. Willow was

devastated. Sorkien now had Auto and GO-4 because they hadn't been careful enough.

Willow said, "This is terrible. Could things get any worse?"


	10. Andrentureasu & development

Ferrelia said, "Willow, never ever say that. Things can always get worse. And I think they just did."

Willow looked and saw PR-T coming towards them at full speed.

"Willow! WALL-E and EVE! We can't find them anywhere!"

Willow looked at her, exasperated. "I just asked if things could get any worse. Apparently they could."

PR-T said, "When we were on the Axiom, Auto electrocuted WALL-E. Sorkien may make him do it again. Though I don't know why he took GO-4. He can control only one robot at a

time, right?"

Jan said, "Actually, he can control two robots at a time. Although he needs to be really close to them to be able to do that."

Willow said, "I must stop him."

Before any of the others could say anything, she took off. Willow knew that they had to be in the captain's quarters. It was the only place that they could be. Willow knew that she

had no time to go the way she had taken when she was first exploring the Axiom. She had to take a more direct way. She quickly flew to the bow of the Axiom. She soon saw them

through the window of the captain's quarters. EVE was pointing her blaster gun at Sorkien.

After ensuring that she had enough speed, Willow took the most direct way possible. She crashed through the window and landed on the floor between WALL-E and EVE, and

Sorkien, Auto, and GO-4.

Everyone was surprised. GO-4 said, "You certainly know how to make a dramatic entrance."

Sorkien said, "You certainly do. I did not expect you to come in this way. But it makes no difference. I was waiting for you."

Willow, getting up, said, "You were?"

"Yes. Now that you're here, I can do what I came here to do."

"I will not let you hurt EVE or WALL-E."

"I'm afraid that you have no say in the matter."

GO-4 grabbed her in his suspension beam and tossed her to the side.

GO-4 said, "I'm sorry. He's making me do this."

"I know."

GO-4 then grabbed EVE in his suspension beam. Auto flipped out his taser and moved towards WALL-E.

Auto said, "No! NO! No, I already electrocuted WALL-E! I won't do it again!" Auto stopped moving.

Sorkien said, "You have? Very well, then. I won't make you do it again. Instead, I'll make you do something else."

GO-4 quickly let go of EVE and grabbed WALL-E. Auto quickly moved towards EVE and _electrocuted her_. Willow, knowing that there was nothing she could do, watched helplessly.

WALL-E shrieked in horror. After Auto was done, EVE collapsed to the floor, severely damaged. Auto said, "No! You're horrible! You're a devil! Do you hear me? A devil!"

GO-4 said, "How can you watch this and not even care? You're the most evil being I've ever known!"

Sorkien said, "Shut up, you two."

GO-4 dumped WALL-E down the trash chute, then EVE. Willow ran over to the entrance of it and watched as EVE fell. Before she could follow, Sorkien grabbed her neck.

He said, "I must say, you fell into my trap quite easily. Of course, I knew you would. You were very attracted to them."

"You mean, this was a trap? For me?"

"Of course it was. Did you think I would bother with those two robots if they wouldn't help me in my plans?"

Auto said, "You're still intent on killing Willow? You-you-I despise you! I will ensure that you die slowly and painfully!"

Willow said, "No, Auto. I'll be doing that." All of them were slightly surprised. Willow's voice had changed. Before, her voice, along with Jan's, were like those of 7-year-old's. Willow's

voice was now like that of a 20-year-old's.

She then yanked Sorkien's hand off her neck in such a way that she didn't get harmed. She glared at Sorkien with a ferocity that he had never seen. He quickly dashed through the

hole in the window that Willow had made.

GO-4 said, "Willow, go after Sorkien. I'll go after WALL-E and EVE." Willow nodded and GO-4 jumped down the trash chute. Auto jumped on to Willow's back.

"I'm going with you," he said. "I never want to set foot in this blasted ship ever again."

Willow said, "Neither do I."

She dashed through the hole in the window, going after Sorkien with a vengeance. She swooped to the ground and Auto got off. She then resumed following Sorkien.

When Sorkien looked behind him, he was shocked. Willow was right behind him. He flew into the city, hoping to get rid of her there, but no matter how fast he went, no matter how

sharp a turn he made, Willow was still behind him…and getting closer.

After what seemed like hours, he had enough.

"Troop! Get the half-albino!"

They obeyed immediately. From several places, the nine Albatrians charged at Willow. Through a graceful and surprising series of maneuvers, she turned their strength against them.

By now, Sorkien knew that what Willow was doing was not in any way natural. He knew that he could no longer run from her. Now, he had to fight.

He flew towards the human encampment. Willow followed him, a mere three feet behind him.

He landed thirty feet away from the encampment. Willow landed ten feet away from him. All of the humans sensed that something big was going to happen. All of them gathered at

the edge of the encampment. Alongside them were the robots. Willow glanced over at the crowd. Within the crowd were robots that she had met and robots she had never seen

before. There was M-O, HAN-S, PR-T, D-FIB, BRL-A, BURN-E, Auto, L-T, VAQ-M, VN-GO, and countless others. Jan and Ferrelia were also in the crowd.

Sorkien's troop came and joined the crowd, knowing that he wanted to take on Willow himself.

Sorkien was the first to speak. "So…finally this day comes. When I first saw you, I never imagined that we would meet again like this. The time has come for us to stop running and

fight. I am tired of running."

Willow said, "So am I."

"I hope that you shall win."

"What?"

"Yes. I know that Jarcaunio is dangerous, but I dare not disobey him. I show no emotion, but you would not believe what goes on inside. I felt pain at everything I did wrong.

Unimaginable pain. I never wanted to harm innocents, for when he ordered us to attack the albinos, I, at first, didn't obey. But when I saw what he did to Ferrelia, I knew that there

was something more to him than I could ever have imagined. Since then, I've been his loyal puppet. I wish that I knew what his secret was. I wish that I could escape him, but I

know that he will know if I betray him. I wish that there was a way to prevent all of it from happening. I don't know how many deaths I have been responsible for." His voice was

beginning to crack. Willow saw tears coming out of his eyes.

He continued. "I hope that one day, Jarcaunio will die, and our kind shall know peace at last. If I could have one wish, I would wish that none of this had ever happened."

Willow said, "You already said that."

"I know, I know. Do me a favor. Battle me, and kill me so that I can finally be free of Jarcaunio. I only regret that I won't be there when you end Jarcaunio once and for all."

"Sorkien…why are you so sure that if I fight Jarcaunio, I will win?"

He smiled. "Because you once took down a far more powerful evil."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at your feathers…Andrentureasu."

She quickly looked at her feathers. She was in for a surprise. Her feathers were the purest white and sparkled in the sunlight. They also glowed with a soft light. There was a

heavenly aura around her. It was unnatural, but comforting.

She looked at Sorkien with wide eyes. "When did I-?"

"While you were chasing me in the city. I know that you will destroy Jarcaunio, for you are far more powerful than he could ever be. No matter what he says, no matter what he

does, his power will never be even a close match to yours. I am honored to be able to lay eyes upon you. I can honestly say that I feel satisfied knowing that nobody, not even

Jarcaunio, can take away the joy I feel. I hope that I shall be fitting practice for you, Andrentureasu."

"Hold on," a mysterious voice said. Andrentureasu recognized it immediately.

The black orb materialized out of thin air above Sorkien.

Andrentureasu said, "You again? What do you want?"

"I overheard him saying that he wanted to be fitting practice for you when you meet Jarcaunio. I can help with that."

Sorkien said, "You can?"

"Yes. If your body absorbs me, I will give you power enough to make a much better and more realistic practice session for her."

"All right, go ahead."

The black orb touched Sorkien and was absorbed into him. His pupils dilated and he began to get bigger. He got bigger and bigger until he was twenty times larger than

Andrentureasu. His body seemed to be emitting darkness.

Sorkien was horrified. "This power…I can't comprehend it! If this is how powerful Jarcaunio is…what's that you say? It's only a small fraction. Oh dear. Jarcaunio is more powerful than

I could ever possibly comprehend! Oh well. Andrentureasu, I hope you're ready. I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

She said, "Then let us begin."

They both were more powerful than they first thought. The battle went on into the night. Sorkien continually blasted darkness at Andrentureasu, occasionally hitting her. She blasted

beams of light at him, hitting him far more often. Eventually, both were tired from the long battle.

Andrentureasu said, "At this rate, we're going to be too tired to end this."

Sorkien said, "I'm beginning to wonder if Chirabanui underestimating you was part of why you won."

"He must have. I don't remember him being as powerful as this."

"I hope that Jarcaunio isn't the reincarnation of Chirabanui."

"I think you're wrong about that."

"I just hope that-ugh!"

Andrentureasu had hit him with a sneak attack. And she was still hitting him.

Sorkien was greatly pleased. "Yes! Ow! Sneak attack! That's-ow-good!"

It wasn't long before Sorkien was near defeat.

Andrentureasu was about to finish him off with her claws when he said, "No! Don't use your claws! End me with the most powerful attack you have!" She complied. (By now, they

had moved much farther away from the spectators)

She went high into the sky and charged her most powerful attack: a huge beam that was capable of destroying almost anything. When it was fully charged, she unleashed it onto

Sorkien.

A huge boom completely annihilated him. Andrentureasu flew down to look at the crater where Sorkien had been. A single black feather floated down. It was all that remained of

Sorkien. All of the Albatrians, including Andrentureasu, let out their call to send off with Sorkien. The black orb appeared in front of Andrentureasu. It said, "Well done, you have

excellent stealth and power. Jarcaunio will be pleased when he fights you." Then, in Andrentureasu's mind, he said, "Don't forget, however, that your date with destiny is in 1,300

years. In the meantime, enjoy yourself." With that, it disappeared.

Andrentureasu turned towards the crowd. GO-4, WALL-E, and EVE were now in it. Except for being even dirtier, EVE looked like she had never been damaged in the first place.

Jan said, "So I was right all along. You _are_ the reincarnation of Andrentureasu."

Ferrelia said, "I never thought that you, well, I'm proud that you're my daughter."

Janaria said, "On behalf of all my comrades, we would be honored to help the humans in rebuilding."

Andrentureasu smiled.

PR-T said, "I'm glad that everything's all right now, but there's still one thing bothering me. Who the heck reactivated Auto?"

Andrentureasu said, "I'd better just go out and say it, shouldn't I?"

"It was you? But-why?"

"I didn't know anything about Auto."

"I see. Well, at least things turned out better than I thought they would."

"I'm glad we can all look forward to peace and quiet for a long time."

WALL-E said, "So am I."

"But first, let's get some sleep."

Everyone agreed to that.

Willow looked up at the sky. She was looking forward to the days ahead.

Suddenly, she heard a voice in her mind, a voice she had never heard before. It sounded threatening.

It said, _Remember Willow. Only those who know loss can feel joy._

_The end (of this story!)_

**Author's note: You might be able to tell, but I was a little anxious to finish this story as soon as I could. I am planning on doing a sequel.**

Development

An explanation of the various concepts, characters, and ideas that are in this story. And even some that never made it in!

Willow-Willow was inspired by the fan fiction story "Never to be loved". Originally (AKA when I started writing this story) her background was going to be much the same and she was

a shape-shifting robot. Eventually, I dropped this idea, and decided to make her an alien that had forgotten her true identity. At one point, she was huge and had five heads as an

alien, but I dropped this idea. She was also going to be a dinosaur-like creature (hence the vision of a dinosaur), but, again, I dropped this idea. I'm pretty pleased with how this

turned out.

Auto's spider form-I've had the idea of having Auto as a robotic spider for a very long time. Actually…I'm surprised that, in all the stories I've read, nobody else seems to have come

up with this.

Sorkien-I wanted to have an antagonist other than Auto, so I decided upon one that was the same species as Willow. The racism thing I came up with after watching an episode of

Star Trek called "Let that be your last battlefield".

Ferrelia-I decided to have Willow's mother in the story after, well I don't remember why, but that doesn't completely matter. I was also planning on having Willow's father in the

story, but I decided not to. When Willow was a much scarier alien, I was going to have her mother, along with the rest of her species, be killed (but not in the story).

The Albatrians-I came up with this name the moment I was to use it in the story. It was the second name I came up with. Pretty good don't you think?

The orb-I'll explain more about the orb in the development section in the next story.

EVE being electrocuted-I had this idea for a while. I was going to have Willow follow them into the garbage bay, but, again, I was anxious to get this story finished.

Andrenturasu- a combination of the names Andrenyi (from Murder on the Orient Express), Sepulchure (from DragonFable. I used a "t" instead of a "ch" because it looked better), and

Amaterasu (from Okami).

Okay, I think we're done!


End file.
